Andreas Bender

Weissburgunder & Pinot Noir, Mosel, Germany

Here is a man who was brought up in the business. By thirteen years old, most of us are yet to graduate from Capri Sun, but Andreas Bender had already made his own wine. We assume he had some help.

Learning about soil and viticulture from his vine propagator dad, he furthered his education in France, Italy and USA before returning to home soil to shake things up. Derided as a “maverick” for his modern approach to vinification, Andreas blends grapes from his top single vineyards – radical indeed – to create wines with a wonderful poise, balancing potent fruit with a cleansing minerality.

He prefers to remain hands-off in the cellar, relying on natural fermentation and simple, traditional winemaking methods. You’ll have seen his Weissburgunder on our list for some time but stray over to the reds and you’ll see his Pinot Noir has come aboard as well. Try both.